FreeDOS is a free, modern operating system compatible with MS-DOS. FreeDOS runs on most PCs, ranging from the original 16-bit IBM PC to modern AMD64 systems. Getting it to run on old hardware can be a bit tricky, however, because parts of the standard FreeDOS distribution depend on a 386+ processor and on the availability of a CD-ROM drive.

I am interested in running FreeDOS on the original IBM PC/XT and compatibles. To this end, I prepared boot floppies that provide a minimal set of FreeDOS utilities without depending on modern hardware.

This work is based on the FreeDOS 1.0 release and on Eric Auer's three-floppy FreeDOS distribution.

More up-to-date FreeDOS floppies are available from Rugxulo.

Download boot floppies

freedos1_20061018.img	This is an updated version of the first-of-three of Eric's boot floppies; see the changelog for details. Note that this is mostly Eric's project, so all credits to him.
freedos720k_20061014.img	A 720k bootflop with just the essential DOS utilities. This floppy specifically targets old computers: no memory managers, no CD-ROM drivers, all included binaries run on a PC/XT.
freedos360k_1_20061014.img freedos360k_2_20061014.img	A 2 × 360k version of the 720k bootflop. The first floppy is bootable and contains the most important commands; the rest is on the second floppy.